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John Barrow hits prospective foes Lee Anderson and Rick Allen; they hit back -- and each other

Why did U.S. Rep. John Barrow attack two prospective foes this week without knowing which one he’ll run against?

People wondered out loud about that when the Augusta Democrat teed off on Republicans Lee Anderson and Rick Allen.

One possible answer surfaced quickly: Anderson and Allen responded by blasting each other almost as much as Barrow.

“It’s probably what Barrow wanted,” said Kennesaw State University political science professor Kerwin Swint. “He drew them out and got them to beat each other up.

“He’s been around the block. He knows how the game is played.”

Anderson and Allen likely will vie in an Aug. 21 runoff in 12th Congressional District. Results certified on Tuesday show Anderson, a state representative from Grovetown, finished well ahead, but short of a majority, in the July 31 primary.

Barring the unlikely event that a recount changes the outcome, he’ll face Augusta businessman Allen, second in the primary.

Boundary changes favoring the GOP in the 12th mean Barrow must run this year on unfriendly political turf.

“Rick Allen and Lee Anderson have done a great job avoiding important issues in this election,” Carbo said. “Folks ... deserve to know where these two stand on the federal budget, and at every opportunity, they’ve dodged the question.”

At a recent GOP debate, Carbo said, Anderson and Allen “tiptoed around the issue, keeping their plans top secret.”

Carbo cited bills supported and votes taken by Barrow that he said could help reduce the federal budget deficit.

Barrow, McElhannon said, “is ... so fundamentally dishonest that he won’t even admit he’s voting to re-elect President Barack Obama, the head of his own political party.”

Barrow has distanced himself from Obama, who fared poorly in 2008 in areas that comprise the new 12th. Although Barrow is a delegate, he’s not attending the upcoming national party convention that will renominate Obama.

After taking a dig at Barrow’s Harvard law degree, McElhannon said Anderson’s plan is simple: “Balance the budget and send Barrow and Obama back home.”

But Allen’s campaign manager, Scott Paradise, said Barrow and Anderson have the same policy.

He said “career-politicians Lee Anderson and John Barrow believe that raising taxes to pay for increased spending is the best approach to balancing the budget.”

Anderson favored the recent proposed penny sales tax for transportation, rejected by voters in most of the state.

In contrast, Paradise said, Allen favors “cutting spending throughout every agency of government, repealing Obamacare and eliminating wasteful government agencies.”

“Allen,” Paradise insisted, “will never vote to raise taxes like career politicians John Barrow and Lee Anderson.”